1. Field of the Industry
The present invention relates to a cassette loading apparatus in which a lid for covering a tape running face, such as a tape cassette for digital audio, is disposed, and the tape cassette has a slider for locking the opening of the lid by sliding the slider in a direction perpendicular to the lid to prevent the lid from accidentally opening, and when the tape cassette is inserted from an insertion port of a tape deck, the slider is slid to open the lid while the tape cassette is held and is carried to a position for engagement with a tape drive mechanism.
2. Prior Art
In a conventional cassette loading apparatus for a tape deck of this type, the lid is directed on the deeper side of the apparatus and is inserted from the insertion port of the cassette. The slider is engaged during this insertion and the lid is opened by lowering the tape cassette, and the cassette engages the tape drive mechanism.
In a tape cassette of the latter type, the length of the lid face is longer than that of the side face of the lid perpendicular to the lid face. Accordingly, the insertion port of the tape deck is long in the transversal direction
However, in a tape deck for a vehicle, the area of the front face must be small, and there must be space on the front panel for a thumbscrew, a push button, a display device, etc., for operating the tape deck. Therefore, it is desirable to have a small cassette insertion port. However, in the conventional cassette loading apparatus, the cassette insertion port cannot be made small since the insertion port is elongated to receive the cassette, lid face first.